The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-05-27
THE RueeeR TREE.
How Its Products IL Gathered and The
Ways I'm which II Il Utilized.

Ways in which IL ID Utili.ed.
The chief industry in Eastern
Costa RIGA is the collection of caoutch-
Que pronounced koochook. with the
accent strong on the first syllable. as
the native Indians call that substance
to us known as India rubber. Not
many years ago more than 100000
pounds of it were shipped every month
from Grey Town alone, but at present
the average export per month is only
about $4,000 pounds. This consider
able falling off is due to the fact that
no legal or other surveillance is exer-
cised over the gathering of the gum.
and the customary improvidence Of
these people many of the valuable trees
which yield it to have been ruined. The
yularoes, or rubber-hunters, are the
most ignorant and irresponsible of
creatures, whose first object when ont
ON hunt is to secure as much caOutch-
QUO as possible. and next to damage
the prospects of other yularoes. regard
less of the future.
A thrifty tree, at its first cutting,
ought to yield not less than fifty pounds
of rubber, but the hunters of to-day
find few so proftable-unless they PEN
citrate far into the virgin forests and
are lucky enough to discover an en-
tirely new district. In those sections
already worked most of t e trees have
been tapped several times. and many
of them were spoiled at the outset by
having been cut too young-the greedy
discoverer fearing that if the prize
were left to attain perfection another
might find and secure it. We're the
matter regulated by judicious laws, so
that only mature trees might be tapped,
and those not to an extent to cause
death, the production of caoutchouc
would be greatly increased. Recently
the Costa Rican Government has offered
extensive grants of land to any who
will devote them to the culture Of rub
Der trees, but so far few have availed
themselves of the opportunity.
Many attempts have been made to
import the juice of the tree in its natural
state, but 80 far none of these efforts
have succeeded. While in liquid form
it may be fashioned into any shape by
means of n,olds, but no process has yet
been discovered to prevent its solidify-
ing. There is always good deal Of
partially-harlened caoutchOuc adher-
ing to the bark of the tree, which is
torn off in long, stringy masses called
berueha- Of course this is not nearly
so valuable rs the solid cakes, and is
more especially the product of those
trees that have been cut several times,
and therefore can not yield 4 copious
flow Of sap bat it is wrapped UP in
bundles and exported for various pur-
poses Commercially speaking, the
caOutehouc of Paris is considered best
and commands the highest price in the
market, while that from the west coast
of Africa is least desirable. being only
slightly elastic and-like its collectors
extremely offensive in odor. Great
quantities are also brought from Brit
ish India, Mauritius and the Indian
archipelago
The milky Juice, which plays now 80
important a part among the earth's
productions. was first used by these
Central American Indians. Their
caoutchouc WAS made known to the
world as elastic gum, and was long
afterward given the name Of rubber
from the discovery of its usefulness in
rubbing out the marks of black lead
pencils For the latter purpose it BE-
gan to be imported into Great Britain
toward the close Of the last century,
and being much valued by artists
was sold ut high price. Early in 1886
the Spanish eOnguistedOres in Mexico
had learned to make caOutchOnc int
shoes. and also used it for waxing their
canvas clOaks to make them resist
water-something as the clothing Of
the modern yularO is coated. That.
no doubt, was the origin of the idea u
its manufacture into waterproof cloth.
which first gave it commercial
Importance. Not until 1920 did its
employment begin to extend much be-
yond the eracing of pencil-marks.
though the quantity imported had con.
siderably increased. Long before that
time it had been used in the manufac-
ture of flexible tubes for surgeons and
chemists. but the expensive char.
acter of the only solvent then known
prevented its general application for
useful purposes. Finally method was
discovered for fabricating articles OF
various kinds by casting the caoutchouc
into molds. Its remarkable elasticity
and flexibility, as well as its solubility
in water and impenetrability to gases
and fluids in general, have adapted il
to more uses than any other one com.
modify can be applied. Now by far
the greatest variety of its applications
is employed in the vulcanized state-a
process invented only forty-three OF
forty-fOur years ago-since which time
thousands of patents have been granted
for as many different applications. Mr..
Charles Goodyear in the United States.
and Mr.. Thomas Hancock in England
seem to have discovered almost stimuli.
tancously the great changes which
caoutchouc undcrgoes when mixed with
sulphur and heated. As every body
knows, the manufacture of India rubber
goods is now one of the most extensive
industries in the United States; while in
England are many immense manufac.
tories, and in France alone the consump-
ton of raw caOutchOucis nearly 20O, OOC
pounds per annum, the approximate